Why cant the league be stretched at both ends? Why will the relegation situation be any different to this year? All three newly promoted clubs might still be there plus the promoted clubs + a couple of other chancers who had a good season this year. Could easily be 10-12 clubs in the relegation mix Gin.

Absolutely correct.

It is miraculous where we are in the table at present given our appalling start and our succession of injuries with several players being unavailable at the same time.

A truly magnificent job done by Roy Hodgson and his coaching staff.

While we have had a 'nice' run-in towards the end of the season, what about that terrible run of fixtures in Jan/Feb (if I remember correctly?) which also coincided with our appalling injury crisis and plunged us right back into it? While some have argued that having those injuries then rather in the more winnable games might have been fortunate, this has meant we struggled to pick up points from the top 6 this season, really putting the pressure on us to beat teams around us.

What I don't want next season is to play a bloody promoted club first game! Always the worst time to play them (we beat Norwich on the opening day back in 2015 but I remember being nervous then too!)

Whilst we have had bad luck with injuries etc I would argue that we have had some good luck with the timing of the injuries and our fixtures. Having an under strength squad when playing the big guns where points would be hard to come by even at full strength is a lot better than the other way round. If you know what I mean.

I'd agrue That it doesn't really matter who you play at the end of the season. The 'Luck' Of it comes on whether they have anything to play for or not.
i.e. After our result vs Leicester, we're probably a lot easier proposition for them than if were still desparate for a win.

As for the Injuries, well, we've probably had bad luck with Injuries to the wrong people, but we have let that affect our game too much by not having the correct depth in the squad to cope with them.

"It was a Team effort, I guess it took all players working together to lose this one"

I think we need to be better prepared. We need to be run in a more professional manner.

We got in s*** with Holloway and were bailed out by Pulis.

We got in s*** with Warnock and were bailed out by Allardyce.

We got in s*** with De Boer and were bailed out by Hodgson.

At some point this luck runs out. There won't always be an unemployed messiah seeking a bonus.

Sunderland had this coping strategy for years, and when that failed, it failed spectacularly. We need to anticipate moves further ahead than we do. We need succession planning, for players and staff. We need the club run in a manner where luck doesn't come into it.